Snagging the MBA internship of your dreams

As a first year MBA student, I can’t even begin to count the number of interviews I did to find the right summer internship. In some, we dove straight into a case study and never got to the pleasantries of getting to know each other. In others, we talked about prior experiences for so long that I never got a chance to figure out if the company was the right fit for me, or if the company would even survive until the summer rolled around.

Defining my goals

As I went through the gamut of meeting people and companies, I realized I wanted two things. The first was to be at a smaller company than I’d worked at before ⁠ — a company that was growing rapidly, so that the odds of learning as much as possible were higher. The second was to be somewhere where my values, and who I was as a person, mattered too. I didn’t want to just be a cog in the wheel.

It felt like I was asking for a lot, especially as a 27-year-old with limited work experience. But sticking to those requirements helped me land an internship that was perfect for me.

Interviewing, with Gusto

Long before I even met anyone on the Insights & Operations team at Gusto, the job posting grabbed my attention. It asked me to submit a resume with a description of something that I did “with gusto.”

I was intrigued by the unique question and sent off my application. As I moved through the interview process, several factors made this role stand out.

1. Adaptability: Nobody on the team was specifically trained to do “Insights & Operations.” Everyone came from different backgrounds — consulting, large banks, tiny startups, and more. But the common thread was a demonstrated ability to adapt and thrive in new environments.

• Interview Tip: Be honest and specific about your experience. I spoke about the many hats I wore in my previous roles.

2. Curiosity: Everyone on the team had a deep sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn. That hunger is key in a startup as you take on new and different responsibilities.

• Interview Tip: Talk about something new you’ve recently learned and are excited about. I spoke about a case study on opening a Brazilian airline and a potential process for selecting aircrafts and prioritizing cities.

3. Stay true to who you are: I was both amazed by the people I met and how much they shared too, about passions ranging from baking to bike building. Everyone had so many things in their life that they did “with gusto.”

• Interview Tip: Don’t be afraid to talk about your whole self. Interviewers want to know you are creative outside of the workplace too. Initially I was hesitant, but I ended up speaking about my passion for classical piano and how it shaped my life growing up.

Marketing Insights & Operations

I took the role knowing only that my summer project would be tailored to what I wanted to learn and that the Insights & Operations “delivers strategy, operations, and technology.” Right now, I’m about seven weeks into my ten week internship working on the Marketing Insights & Operations team.

Marketing IO is one of six Insights and Operations sub-teams, and as I’d hoped for, I’ve hit the ground running since week one. I’m learning about survey methodologies, vendor selection, sales funnels, and marketing channels. All of this learning isn’t only for personal consumption. The final output will be to recommend a new pricing and merchandising structure.

My placement on Marketing IO came out of my vague request to “learn as much as possible.” And again, as I’d hoped for, none of this work is similar to what I’ve learned in school, or during my collective five years on an ops team at Facebook and as a product manager at Coupang, a Korean e-commerce unicorn. The challenges presented by working at a fast-growing tech company are myriad, but the learning opportunities that go with them are invaluable.

Mission driven

In addition to the tactical learnings, I continue to be surprised by how much Gusto’s mission and values are more than pretty statements. Gusto’s mission is to help companies put people first, creating a world where work empowers a better life.

I felt the power of this mission during on-boarding, when all of the new hires directly experienced the pain points that small business owners face. We had to calculate taxes using IRS documents to run payroll manually. It was tricky (my numbers were way off!) and showed us the challenges that come with running a business.

When the leadership team talks about upcoming plans for the people platform, or when the creative team talks about the recent brand launch, people always come first. The office even puts people first — lunch is communal, the environment is shoeless, and the space is filled with comfortable spots to work, collaborate, or just think.

As I learn more about marketing, managing a startup, and the customers who rely on Gusto to run their business, I feel confident that the work I’m doing is meaningful. Ultimately, this is the benefit of working at a mission-driven startup like Gusto, and I am so grateful for the experience.